VFI-PNW Looking for Inexpensive Airline Tickets?

Looking for a CHEAP Flight to Israel?

Who isn't?

The cost of getting to Israel is the BIGGEST expense a VFI /Sar-El volunteer has to face.

With a little bit of work on your part, patience, and luck you should be able to find a reasonable airline ticket to Israel. Don't be discouraged. Think of it as a treasure hunt.

The more money you can save - the more you can spend in Israel!

Here are a couple of things that you can do to find the best possible price on an airline ticket to Israel.

FIRST - accept the fact that airline pricing makes NO sense - just take it as a given. Get over it!

Check out the travel options on the VFI-USA web site.
- Ayelet is a travel agency that is familiar with the VFI / Sar-El program. Ayelet specializes in travel to Israel. Check them out and see what kind of price you can get. Use that as a 'price point'.
  - Web site - www.ayelet.com
  - Call 800-237-1517 x-329 - ask for Lioudmila (Lu) - mention code - VFI-1982
- EL-AL offers a special discount to VFI / Sar-El volunteers - they offer a special code and an 800 to call. Give them a call and see what their 'price point' is.
- The contact info for Ayelet and the EL-AL offer can be found by following this link.
To see which airlines are flying to Israel - Check the Arrival Board at Ben Gurion Airport. Look at the 24 Hour Board to see which airlines are flying into Israel and from where. Make a note of them.
- You can see the Ben Gurion Airport Arrival Board here.
- A site that shows where flights to Israel are coming from and which airlines service Israel
Using the information gathered from the Ben Gurion Arrival Board - check out the airlines web sites for Special Web Offers.
- Here is a list of airlines web sites and 800 numbers.
Check out the following travel sites
- The following sites search MULTIPLE sites:
  - Kayak - search airline sites as well as Travelocity, Orbitz, etc.
  - Farecast - fare prediction
  - ITA - Airline Industry search engine from MIT (login as 'Guest')
  - Booking Buddy
  - SideStep
  - Qixo - Searches multiple sites
- The following sites popular Travel sites:
- The following are some sites recommended by our Volunteers
  - Best Travel Store - recommended by Carol Hananel
Check out Airline Consolidators. You can do a Google search on 'Airline Consolidators'. Or try some of these -
- BarginTravel
- UltimateFares
- CheapInternationaFlights
- www.air-supply.com
- EconomyTravel
- NOTE - Although you can usually get cheaper tickets from Consolidators - they do place restrictions on the tickets your purchase. Make sure you can live with the restrictions before you purchase.
Check the Travel Section of your local newspaper. Look for the small ads by airline consolidators and keep your eyes open for Specials.
- Call a few of them up to see what is their price point.
If you live in a town or city that has a Jewish newspaper - check their travel ads.
Contact the closest VFI Regional office to see if they may have heard of any special travel deals.
If you do find a BARGAIN - share the information with your local VFI Regional office.

We are all in this TOGETHER!

Additional Notes -

Keep in Mind that the VFI / Sar-El work program starts on SUNDAYS and MONDAYS - you must be in Israel before or on those dates.
As you are looking at flights - being FLEXIBLE on your dates - might save you money - so check to see if moving your dates by a day or two will yield a significant savings.